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‘World Trade Center’ ship dates to pre-Revolutionary America

PIECE OF HISTORY: The white oak in the ship's frame came from a Philadelphia-area forest and matched the material used to build the city's Independence Hall. It was unearthed four years ago during construction on the World Trade Center. Photo: Associated Press

It’s a ship tied to two critical points in American history: Sept. 11, 2001, and the eve of the Revolutionary War.

Researchers said this week that a vessel unearthed four years ago at the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan was made from wood cut around the year 1773 — two years before the start of the war and three years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Scientists at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, writing in the July issue of the journal Tree Ring Research, said the white oak in the ship’s frame came from a Philadelphia-area forest and matched the material used to build the city’s Independence Hall.